


The Amamiya-Niijima Family

by vivvav



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, Hanami Amamiya-Niijima, Ryoko Amamiya-Niijima, The AFR Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 14:05:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13683204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivvav/pseuds/vivvav
Summary: Ren and Makoto decide that the time is finally right to start a family.





	1. 2027

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Hureno, who finally got me to get off my ass and write this story by creating some artwork of what Ren and Makoto's offspring would look like. You'll get a look at that in the next chapter. Usually I'd say this in the end notes, but I have a special announcement I'd like to dedicate that space to, so stick around when you're done with this first chapter.

**January**

There was an uncomfortable silence in Ren and Makoto’s apartment. The two were seated with Sae at the kitchen table, each of them with a cup of coffee. Ren and Makoto both seemed hesitant to say anything, and Sae was stuck waiting for one of them to get over it. She didn’t know why she was here. She knew that Makoto had asked her over to discuss something important. Something that couldn’t be discussed over the phone, and for which they needed the advice of somebody with a cool head. This was a surprise in itself, as while she had been overly forthcoming with advice and opinions in the past, Ren and Makoto were often resistant to receiving these things from her. Sae couldn’t imagine what the two of them were dealing with that they trusted her over their friends to be good counsel. She only hoped it wasn’t some kind of scandal. After all, Ren was a politician and Makoto a cop. Sae doubted either of them would take part in any kind of illicit activity, but given their history, it wasn’t something she could rule out. These days, Sae’s worst fear was that she’d one day have to play defense attorney to her younger sister or her brother-in-law.

“So…” Ren finally broke the silence. He looked at Makoto. “Do you want to tell her, or should I?”

“I’ll do it.” Makoto turned to Sae. “Although I’m not quite sure how to broach the subject.”

“It’s ok, Makoto. I’m here for you.” Sae reached over to Makoto and grabbed her hand. She looked up at Ren. “That goes for both of you. Whatever situation you two have gotten into, you can tell me. I’ll do everything in my power to help you get through this.”

“That’s very nice to hear, but we’re not in trouble.” Despite her words, Makoto found her fingers wrapping around her sister’s hand. “But we have been thinking about something lately, and I suppose we would just feel most comfortable discussing it with you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Sis…” Makoto withdrew her hand. “What would you say if I told you that I think I’m ready to be a mother?”

“Oh. Well, that depends.” Sae looked at Ren. “Are you ready to be a father, Ren-Kun? I’m assuming the two of you aren’t getting a divorce.”

“Of course not! I mean, of course! I mean-“ Ren grunted. “Of course I’m ready to be a father, of course Makoto and I are NOT getting a divorce.”

“Well then, to answer your question, Makoto…” Sae touched her hand to her chin in thought. “Well, I guess my first reaction is that I’m not terribly surprised.”

“You’re not?” Makoto asked.

“No.” Long before their father died and Sae tried to push Makoto towards a life of nothing but cold professionalism, Sae always imagined that Makoto would be the one to extend the family bloodline. She loved her sister, and didn’t regret having taken care of her, but Sae just wasn’t the nurturing type. Even before the terrible tragedy of her teenage years, she couldn’t see herself getting married and starting a family. Just having a live-in boyfriend now was a lot further than she ever expected to have in terms of domestic bliss. But Makoto had always been a caretaker. Even in elementary school, she displayed clear behaviors among her classmates that could have her classified as the ‘mom friend’. “I think it’s been a long time coming.”

“Well, that’s good” Ren said.

“What, did you think I was going to tell you two you’re not ready?” Sae smirked. “Saying ‘you’ve only been married a year’ doesn’t mean much when you were dating for a decade right before that.” Sae crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “Of course, I have questions about how this would affect your careers, but I doubt you two haven’t discussed that extensively already.”

“I don’t really see it as an impediment to my career.” Ren chuckled. “Hell, I’m pretty sure having a child would make me more electable.” Ren quickly wiped the smile from his face and deepened his voice a little. “Not that I would value politics over my family, of course. I’m just saying it wouldn’t hurt my career trajectory.”

“Obviously I had some reservations about having a child in my line of work given…” Makoto cleared her throat. “Well, there’s no need to revisit that. But there are some recent developments that lead me to believe it’s less of a problem than I previously thought.”

“What do you mean?” Sae looked at Makoto with confusion.

“Well, Assistant Commissioner Onishi recently announced his impending retirement.” Makoto’s eyes filled with excitement. “And he told me that I’m at the top of his list for suggested replacements.”

“Makoto, that’s incredible!” Sae’s face lit up. “You would be in charge of the entire station!”

“Yes. And more than that, I would be off the streets, doing less life-endangering administrative work.” The light left Makoto’s eyes and she stared at the coffee in front of her gloomily. “It’s… the perfect time.”

Sae was confused by Makoto’s shift in mood. She looked at Ren and saw him take on a similar expression. The wheels in her head spun for a moment, and then it hit her.

“Makoto…” Sae tried to stay strong, but found it hard not to match the mood of the others. “Are you… That is… Can you not-“

“No!” Makoto shouted. There was a note of desperation to her voice. “I mean, we’ve been trying, and we haven’t yet, but technically, we can still-“

“We’ve both been to the doctor” Ren said. “We’ve had tests. The words ‘impotent’ and ‘infertile’ haven’t been tossed around, but ‘improbable’ has.”

“I see.” Sae gave the couple an uneasy smile. “But it’s not impossible, right?”

“No, but it’s not likely either.” Makoto slumped forward, placing her elbows on the table. “Did we wait too long? I always thought we’d have the time once we had achieved enough professionally, but now…”

“You are at fault for nothing” Sae said sternly. “There are no right or wrong choices in regards to how you’ve lived your life, Makoto. There is only the path you’ve made for yourself, and it is an admirable one. You have done far too much good for too many people for anybody to claim otherwise. Don’t regret the life you’ve lived for a second.”

Sae took a sip of coffee as she let her sister process those words. They seemed to make her a little less miserable, but the effect was negligible.

“Besides,” Sae continued, “even if you find that the two of you together absolutely cannot conceive a child, that doesn’t mean it’s too late to start a family.”

“Uh…” Ren gave Sae a queer look. “You’re not talking about a surrogate, are you? Because I don’t know how comfortable we’d be looking for a donor to-“

“Really, Ren-Kun? THAT’S where your mind went?” Sae gave Ren the Niijima glare. “I thought that given your history with the Sakura family, you would know exactly what I was talking about!”

“Boss and Futaba? What do they have to do with-“ Ren smacked himself on the forehead. “Oh my god, how did we miss that!?”

“Of course!” Makoto lifted her upper body off the table, a smile coming to her face. “Adoption! We were so distressed over the conception situation it never even occurred to us!”

“Well then, let’s get started.” Sae pulled out her phone and started scrolling through her contacts. “I have a friend who works in adoption services. This process can take even longer than an actual pregnancy, so we need to get you two in the system as soon as-“

“Whoa, slow down!” Ren yelled. “We haven’t decided anything yet!”

“We can’t jump the gun on this, Sis” Makoto said. “It’s a very big decision.”

“What do you mean?” Sae lowered her phone from her face. “You two want a child, don’t you?”

“Of course we do,” Ren said, “but adoption’s a big decision. I think we should talk about it, right?”

“Yes, of course.” Makoto stared at Ren for a moment then stared into the distance, thinking. “Although, I’m not sure what there really is to talk about. A child is a child, right?”

“I mean, of course it is, but does this mean we’re just giving up on conceiving a kid ourselves?” Ren leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. “It’s hard to explain, but I guess that’s just always how I’ve imagined it.”

“Is that so important?”

“No.” Ren looked at Makoto and smiled. “It’s like you said. A child is a child. And maybe it’s different from how I thought it’d be, but in some ways, it might be better. We’d be able to help somebody who really needs it.”

“And I wouldn’t have to deal with nine months of pregnancy and all that comes with it.” Makoto shuddered as she thought back to Hifumi’s pregnancy.

“Well then, it seems you two have made up your mind.” Sae was already on her phone. “Hello Tomoko, this is Sae Niijima. I have some inquiries about the adoption process.”

* * *

**March**

Ren felt completely drained as reached into his pocket and fumbled for his keys. It’s not like he expected being in the House of Representatives to be easy, but politics was uniquely frustrating. He’d spent the whole week passionately arguing for juvenile justice reform, and he still hadn’t brought enough people to his side to secure the votes needed to bring meaningful change. He was really glad tonight was Makoto’s turn to cook, because he barely had the energy to stay on his legs long enough to walk through the door to the apartment, much less stand over a stove and prepare food.

Ren was greeted by a delightful smell when he entered his apartment. Something he hadn’t smelled in a long time. A familiar, welcoming aroma that made his mouth water and endorphins rush through his brain like Pavlov’s dog the second he got a whiff of it.

“Please tell me I’m not imagining things.” Ren closed the door and looked at Makoto, eyes full of hope. “Please tell me that smell is-“

“Yes.” Makoto stood by the kitchen table and opened a flat, square box, revealing its enticing contents. “Pizza.”

“I love you so much right now.” Ren threw his bag on the couch and stumbled towards Makoto, wrapping his arms around her and planting a big, wet, sloppy kiss on her cheek.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Makoto pulled out a chair and helped Ren sit down, fearing he may miss and hit the floor if he tried to lower himself with his own power right now. “Dig in.”

“Oh man…” Ren picked up a slice, long strands of cheese connecting it to the rest of the pizza. It had pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, and meatballs on it. He took a deep sniff, letting the smells of tomato sauce and the various meats pass through his nasal passages and directly into his very soul, giving him the will to live again. “Meat lovers too? This is- Wait…” Ren looked at Makoto as she sat next to him, coming out of his pizza-induced stupor just enough to express concern. “Are you sure you’re ok to eat this? Wasn’t your stomach giving you some trouble this morning?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” Makoto grabbed a slice of pizza for herself. “Go on, eat.”

“Alright.” Ren felt like he was in heaven as he bit into the pizza slice and five different kinds of meat coalesced in his mouth to form a delectable flavor chimera. “So, what’s the occasion?”

Pizza night in the Amamiya-Niijima home was a special event because it was always spontaneous, and always meant something big was happening. Sometimes good big, sometimes bad big. Makoto usually tried to ensure that she and Ren ate healthily — especially Ren because if left to his own devices he would exclusively eat junk food — so if she gave up for the night and ordered pizza, it always meant that something unexpected and momentous had occurred.

“Well, I-“

“Wait a second!” Now that Ren’s faculties had fully returned to him, he noticed something odd about the pizza. He stared at the pie on the table for a moment, trying to figure out why it was different. Then he realized: It was bigger than usual. “Is this a large!?”

“Yes.” Makoto reached into the box and grabbed a second slice, apparently having already wolfed down her first while Ren was comprehending the size of the pizza.

“What happened to ‘two people don’t need anything larger than a medium’?” Ren wasn’t actually complaining. Usually, whenever Makoto got pizza, he always wanted more pizza than was available, and that was her standard reply. And she wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t what Ren’s inner college student wanted to hear. Generally, there wasn’t much bitterness or contention between the two, but a small part of him did enjoy being able to throw it in her face.

“This pizza is for three people.”

“Is someone else coming over?”

“They’re already here.”

“I don’t see anyone.” Ren looked around the apartment. “Are they in the bathroom?”

“No. Ren…” Makoto smiled and put her hand on her stomach. “I’m eating for two.”

“WHAT!?” Ren dropped his half-eaten slice on the table and jumped to his feet. “You mean, we’re having a- You’re- Inside you there’s a-“

“A baby!” Makoto got up and hugged Ren, lifting him off his feet. “We did it! We’re pregnant!”

“This is amazing!” Ren returned Makoto’s hug, not caring that the slice of pizza she’d been holding was now stuck to his butt. “When did you find out!?”

“This afternoon!” Makoto put Ren down. “I mentioned my nauseous spell to one of my co-workers and he joked about it being morning sickness. I’m pretty sure it was some sexist remark on his part, but given the events of a few nights ago, it didn't seem completely implausible. So during lunch, I went out and got a few pregnancy tests —all different brands, just to be sure— and they all came out positive!”

“This is amazing! This is a dream come true! This is-“ Ren’s eyes widened and he took a step back. “Something that requires a lot of planning.”

“Ren?”

“Ok, think.” Ren picked up the pizza he dropped on the table and started pacing in circles while eating it. “We’re gonna need to get baby clothes, and bottles and toys and food… baby everything!”

“Ren, calm down!” Makoto took a step forward and grabbed Ren by the shoulder. “This isn’t like you at all! You’re acting like…” The final word got caught in Makoto’s throat for a second, but she managed to force it out. “Me.”

“Of course I am!” Ren threw his hands up in the air. “Makoto, this is big! This is the biggest thing to ever happen to us! Bigger than marriage or politics or police work or even the Phantom Thieves! I’m going to be a dad! You’re going to be a mom! We’re going to be parents!”

“You’re right!” Makoto started pacing, her and Ren moving in opposite patterns, crossing each other’s paths every few seconds. “This isn’t just something we were hoping for anymore, it’s real!”

“We’re going to have to figure out how to work taking care of a child into our schedules” Ren said. “We’ll probably have to get our friends to babysit.”

“We’ll need to start researching schools” Makoto said.

“Find a good pediatrician.”

“Baby-proof the apartment.”

“Please, this one bedroom isn’t big enough for-“

Ren and Makoto stopped pacing and looked at each other, shouting in unison.

“WE HAVE TO MOVE!”

* * *

**April**

“I think it looks great on you!”

Ann and Shiho were helping Makoto shop for maternity dresses. Right now, Makoto was trying on a long, flowing blue dress, something elegant like the heroine would wear at a big fancy party scene in some romantic movie. She had to admit, she would have looked phenomenal in it had it not been for all the extra material drooping down in the front.

“Or, at least it will once your baby bump grows into it” Ann said.

“I don’t understand why we’re doing this” Makoto said. “Hifumi offered to let me have her old maternity dresses.”

“And that was very kind of her, Senpai.” Shiho looked at Makoto uneasily. “But… ah, how do I put this? It’s possible that Hifumi-San’s maternity dresses may not be big enough for you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?”

“I don’t mean any offense by it!” Shiho slowly backed away from Makoto. “It’s just that if your baby is like you and your sister, it may be larger than Yoshio was!”

“I’ll have you know I was a perfectly normal-sized baby!”

“Chill, Makoto!” Ann held up the end of the dress, lifting it up to Makoto’s knee. “Shiho has a point. You’re a lot taller than Hifumi. If you wear her maternity dresses, then the last trimester’s gonna be cankle city.”

“Vanity’s no reason to spend money unnecessarily” Makoto said.

“Uh-huh.” Ann rolled her eyes. “You say that now, but you’ll be thanking me when those pregnancy hormones start acting up.”

* * *

**June**

“So did the results come in!?”

Ren and Makoto were sitting at a table at Cafe Noir with Haru and Morgana. Haru’s hair jostled up and down as she bounced in her seat excitedly.

“Yup.” Ren showed Haru the ultrasound. “It’s a girl! We’re going to have a daughter!”

“AWWWW!” Haru grabbed the picture and looked at it closely. “She’s adorable, Ren-Kun!”

“Really?” Morgana tilted his head in confusion. “She looks wriggly and squishy to me. Is that thing even a baby? It looks more like an alien.”

“She’s still developing!” Makoto lowered her head to get closer to eye level with the cat. “Morgana, you do know that babies don’t look like people in the early stages of pregnancy, right? That’s why it takes nine months. They need to fully form.”

“O-of course I knew that!” Morgana huffed. “I’m just saying, that picture looks strange!”

“It’s an ultrasound” Ren said. “It’s not like we could have a professional photographer gussy it up.”

“So have you two decided on a name yet?” Haru asked.

“We’re still thinking up candidates.” Makoto opened up the notes on her phone. There was a list of a couple dozen potential baby names among them. “There are a lot of good baby names out there.”

“We already decided not to name her after our parents,” Ren said, “so that takes ‘Minami’ and ‘Yuriko’ off the list.”

“Ooh!” Haru raised her hand. “Are you taking suggestions!?”

“Go ahead.”

“I’ve always been fond of the name ‘Haruhi’!”

“That’s on the list” Makoto said.

“Oh, I know!” Morgana raised a paw. “Juliet!”

“That name’s not even Japanese!” Ren said.

“Is that a rule?”

“Yes.”

“Ok then… ‘Mako’!”

“Too similar to ‘Makoto’.” Ren shook his head. “We’re not naming our daughter after our mothers because we want her to feel like her own person.” 

“That means she can’t have a name that sounds like ours either” Makoto said. “So no ‘Mako’, ‘Renka’, ‘Rin’, or anything like that.”

“Well, the name’s not too important right now anyway. We just have to make sure she’s like Yoshio.” Morgana walked across the table and stared at Makoto’s stomach. “Hey, baby! If you can hear me, you better be able to understand what I’m saying!”

“There’s a thought.” Ren chuckled and turned to his wife. “Hey Makoto, what do you say instead of classical music, we play recordings of Morgana’s voice for the baby?”

“Ooh, yeah!” Morgana perked up at that. “That’s a great idea!”

“Absolutely not” Makoto said.

* * *

**August**

Ren put a rubber edge guard onto the corner of the coffee table in his new living room.  
****

“Thanks for your help, Sae. Makoto isn’t really in a position to be getting low or to all of the hard-to-reach spots.”

“It’s no trouble at all, Ren-Kun.” Sae was placing a plastic cover over the blu-ray player. “There’s nothing more important than ensuring my niece’s safety.”

“Yeah, though I don’t get some of this stuff.” Ren looked over to Sae. “Like, guards over any device that can play a disc? What’s that about?”

“Think about it for a second.” Sae lifted up the cover. “Imagine that your daughter is crawling around the apartment unsupervised. She’s exploring the world, interacting with everything she can, and she presses the eject button on this machine, like so.” Sae pressed the button to illustrate her point, the disc tray popping out. “She sees the disc tray come out, and the moving component is a source of great curiosity to her.” Sae poked the edge of the tray. “She’s now teething, and decides to put her mouth around one of these sharp edges, cutting her face. You don’t want that, do you?”

“Of course not!”

“Exactly!” Sae closed the disc tray and re-applied the plastic cover and held up a list of baby-proofing steps. “This is why Makoto asked me to assist you with this. You may see some of these steps as tedious and unnecessary, but we need to make sure we take every precaution possible to make your home as safe as possible for your daughter.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Ren put the final edge guard on the table. “There’s nothing more important than our daughter’s wellbeing.”

“That’s right.” Sae stared at the blu-ray curiously. “Although, even with this safety measure, it couldn’t hurt to go an extra step. Perhaps there’s a safer blu-ray player you could buy?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Ren rose to his feet. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go see how today’s other task is going.”

“Very well.” Sae got up and looked at Ren, her eyes full of fire. “I’m going to go tend to the kitchen. It’s a disaster zone.”

Ren said nothing and headed to the door for the room he and Makoto had designated as the nursery. He knocked on it.

“Hey Yusuke, how’s it going in there?”

“DO NOT COME IN!” Yusuke’s voice from the other side of the door was frantic. “MY MASTERPIECE IS NOT YET COMPLETE!”

“‘Masterpiece’?” Ren tried opening the door, but it was locked. “Yusuke, you remember that we asked you to keep it simple, right?”

“Simplicity is for paper cups!” Yusuke declared. “This is the home in which the child of two of the most important people in my life will slumber, will grow and become their own person to continue their parents’ tradition of excellence! How can you ask me to do anything but create my greatest work yet!?”

“Oh boy.” Ren leaned against the door. He was beginning to understand why Hifumi and Ryuji hadn’t asked Yusuke for help with their nursery when Yoshio was born. “Can I at least come in and see what you have so far? This IS my home, you know.”

There was a moment of silence, followed by a soft sigh.

“I suppose this request is not unreasonable.” The door opened and a paint-covered Yusuke stood aside, beckoning Ren to come in. “Behold, the tapestry of your and Makoto’s love!”

Ren’s jaw dropped as he saw what Yusuke had done. One of the walls of the room was painted like the night sky, another like the day. A series of images told an old, familiar story. It started among pure black, where Arsene and Johanna were depicted, facing away from each other, both of them looking despondent. In the next image, the two looked at each other, the moon hanging over them, illuminating them and turning the area around them midnight blue. The next image had Arsene riding on top of Johanna, gleefully driving through a field of stars. Night was beginning to shift to day and the two had become Satanael and Anat, standing tall and proud. Next in the full daylight was an incomplete image of Anat standing majestically, a beautiful light glowing in her stomach.

“As you can see, I still have to finish this image, and then there’s another I haven’t even started yet that comes after.” Yusuke picked up a sketchbook and showed Ren a drawing of Satanael and Anat holding a light form shaped like a baby between them.

“I…” Ren looked at the sketch, then at the wall again. “I don’t have the words.”

“Oh, wonderful!” Yusuke beamed at Ren, scanning his face closely. “You’re so overcome by emotion you cannot even express the feelings it evokes in you!”

“That’s for sure.”

* * *

**September**

“Representative Amamiya, you have a call from the Tokyo Family Court.”

“The Family Court?” Ren looked at his planner. His youth advocacy politics had him dealing with the Children’s Rights Council a lot, which often meant he’d be put in contact with people in the lower courts who wanted to share information with him. “But my meeting with Harada-San isn’t until tomorrow.”

“It isn’t Harada-San, sir ” Ren’s secretary said. “It’s a woman named Matsuda.”

“Well, might as well hear what she has to say. Put her on.” Ren waited for the sounds coming out of the phone to change. “Hello, this is Representative Amamiya speaking. How can I help you?”

“Hello, Representative Amamiya,” an older woman’s voice said, “this is Tomoko Matsuda. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”

“Not at all, Matsuda-San.” Ren scratched his head. The name ‘Tomoko Matsuda’ was familiar to him, but he couldn’t remember why.

“Oh good! Because I have wonderful news for you!”

“You do?”

“Yes! Your and Makoto’s application has been approved! We’ve found a match for the two of you!”

“A match? What are you-“

Oh shit.

Tomoko. Sae’s friend who worked in adoption services.

Ren and Makoto had been so ecstatic about the pregnancy that they forgot to pull out their application for adoption.

They were going to have a baby in two months and had just been approved to adopt a kid.

* * *

“I mean, we can’t accept this, right?”

Ren was lying down on the couch, telling Makoto about his conversation with Tomoko. The child was a newborn, only a month old, a girl named Ryoko Miyamoto. Her father had died in a construction accident three months ago and her mother passed away right after giving birth, only hanging onto life long enough to name her daughter. Tomoko had sent Ren a picture of the girl. She was an adorable baby, a bit smaller than average, with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes. Makoto was sitting in her armchair, looking at the photo on her phone.

“No, we can’t, but…”

“Makoto?” Ren sat up. “You don’t want to adopt the baby, do you?”

“I’m sorry. I’m not thinking rationally.” Makoto sighed and put the phone down. “I know it’s crazy. We already have a baby coming in two months, and this is only happening because we forgot to cancel our application, but I’m in a very emotional state right now and just looking at that photo makes me want to reach into that phone and pull that baby out and take care of her forever!” Makoto looked at her phone again and started to cry. “She’s all alone in the world!”

“You know what’s weird?” Ren got up and walked over to Makoto’s chair, sitting on one of the arms and wrapping his own arm around her. “I’m not even pregnant, but I feel the same.”

“You do?” Makoto looked up at Ren and sniffled.

“Yeah…” Ren looked at the photo. Ryoko really was an adorable baby. “Maybe I’m in early daddy mode or something, but I’m just thinking how if something happened to me, and then you died in childbirth, I’d want our daughter to go to the most loving home possible. To somebody who’d treat her like family and give her the best care in the world, shared DNA or not. It’d be kind of hypocritical if I wasn’t willing to extend that to someone else, right?”

“So… we’re really doing this?” Makoto wiped the tears from her face. “We’re really adopting a child right when we’re about to have another? Can we rationalize that?”

“We’re pretty smart people. I think we can rationalize anything if we really want to.” Ren lowered his hand and started rubbing Makoto’s stomach. “I mean, it’d be more expensive, but it’s not like we can’t afford it.”

“That’s true.” Makoto had completely stopped crying, resuming her usual demeanor. “I always did think I’d want a second child eventually, so this would be easier than getting pregnant again.”

“Yeah, it’s like having twins. One just comes a couple months earlier than the other.”

“Well then, I think it’s decided.” Makoto looked at Ren gleefully. “We’re going to have two daughters!”

* * *

**October**

“Alright, next one.” Futaba and Hifumi sat across the booth from Makoto. Futaba was reading a list of prepared questions from her laptop. “Niijima-San, do you teach your daughters social responsibility?”

“Naturally.” Makoto sat with poise and composure. “I work in the police department and my husband is a politician. Everything we do is for the good of others.”

“Next applicant!” Hifumi shouted.

“What!?” Makoto slammed her hands on the table. “What was wrong with that answer!?”

“They already know those things about you.” Hifumi leaned forward, staring into Makoto’s eyes. “Your and Ren’s careers are good enough to get you through the door for an interview, but this preschool has extremely exacting standards. If you cannot be eloquent and give specifics about your life philosophy, they’re not going to bother with you.” Hifumi sulked. “Ryuji completely blew our interview.”

“I don’t know why you wanna send your kids to some hoity-toity ‘elite’ preschool anyway” Futaba said. “One of them isn’t even born yet! Isn’t it way too early to be applying?”

“We just want our girls to have the best things possible” Makoto said. “That includes the best education. And with how competitive the modern world is, we want them to have every advantage as soon as possible.”

“Whatever.” Futaba yawned. “I’m just saying, I learned most of what I know on my own time, and I turned out fine!”

Makoto and Hifumi shared a concerned look, which they quickly tried to hide from Futaba. They weren’t quick enough.

“Ok, fine-ish.” Futaba crossed her arms. “Maybe some things could’ve been better, but-”

“Perhaps we should resume the practice interview” Hifumi said.

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Over at the counter, the men in Leblanc were holding an entirely different conversation. Sojiro was behind the counter as usual. Ren was seated holding a sleeping Ryoko, and Ryuji and Yoshio were sitting on either side of him. Sojiro was currently leaning over the counter, his face inches away from the baby.

“Hmm…”

“Well?” Ren watched Sojiro with anticipation. “What do you think, Boss?”

“Well…” Sojiro stood up straight and stroked his beard. “Vietnamese Robusta. I think she’ll have a taste for the bitter stuff.”

“What a load!” Ryuji said. “You can’t tell what somebody’s favorite kind of coffee’s gonna be when they’re still a baby!”

“Yeah!” Yoshio shouted. “You’re a loaf!”

Sojiro snickered at Yoshio’s malapropism. The boy ignored this and tugged on Ren’s sleeve.

“Hey, Uncle Ren, when’s Ryoko gonna learn to talk?”

“Well, she’s only two months old right now, and most babies don’t really start talking for real until they’re about two years old, so it’s gonna be a while.” Ren looked at Yoshio. “If you wanted to play with Ryoko and her little sister, I don’t think they’ll be big enough to do that until you’re already in first grade.”

“WHAT!?” Yoshio stared at Ryoko angrily, evidently blaming the baby for not having an advanced development cycle. “BUT THAT’S NOT GONNA BE ’TIL FOREVER!”

“Ssshhh!” Ren held his finger up to Yoshio’s mouth. “Don’t wake up the baby!”

“Sorry” Yoshio whispered. He craned his neck up to get a better look at Ryoko. “Can I hold her?”

“Sorry, buddy” Ryuji said. “That probably ain’t a good idea.”

“Why not!?”

“Because you’ll drop her” Sojiro said.

“WILL NOT!”

“SSSSHHHHH!” All three men hushed Yoshio at once.

* * *

**November**

It had been a gracefully short labor period. The baby popped out of Makoto three hours after her water broke. Hanami Amamiya-Niijima was slightly larger than most newborns, with her father’s black hair and her mother’s red eyes. After some time had passed and the newborn had been cleaned up, Ren brought Ryoko into the delivery room and sat next to the bed, holding the older daughter while Makoto held the younger one.

“Hey Ryoko,” Ren whispered, “take a look at that.”

Ryoko’s blue eyes stared in Hanami’s general direction.

“That’s your little sister, Hanami. You want to say ‘hi Hanami’?”

Ren gently lifted Ryoko’s arm and waved her hand. Makoto giggled and waved Hanami’s hand back, then shifted the infant into just her right arm. Makoto’s smile slowly turned into a frown, and she looked at Ren with worry, reaching her free arm out to him.

“Ren, let me have Ryoko.”

“Alright.” Ren helped Makoto take hold of Ryoko, putting the girl in her left arm. “Is something wrong?”

Makoto looked back and forth between the two babies, one in each arm. Her smile returned very quickly.

“No. Nothing at all.” Makoto looked at Ren, tears of joy coming out of her eyes. “This feels completely natural. All of it.”

“Hold on a second…” Ren scooted his chair closer, leaning forward over the bed. “Were you worried you’d love Ryoko less because you didn’t give birth to her?”

“A little.” Makoto breathed a sigh of relief as Ren wiped the tears from her eyes. “There’s just all of that talk about a mother’s connection to her child and unconditional love and-“

“And it’s nothing to worry about. Because that’s our child…” Ren pointed to Hanami. “And that’s our child.” Ren pointed to Makoto. “And you’re their mother. Which means you have unconditional love for and a bond with both of them.”

“Of course.” Makoto felt the warmth of each of her daughters against her arms. It was one of the most incredible sensations she'd ever experienced. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Well, you did just give birth.” Ren smirked at Makoto. “It’s alright if you have a dumb thought or two in these circumstances.”

“Shut up and hold your new daughter.” Makoto titled her head towards Hanami.

“Yes, dear.”

* * *

**Christmas Eve**

Ren and Makoto laid the girls down in their cribs, another long day of crying, spit-ups, and diaper changes behind them. They were exhausted, but it was the good kind of exhausted. The kind where they could take pride in a job well done. Of course, they were very much looking forward to a time when they didn’t have to tend to the girls every single second, but for now they could handle it. Ren spent as much time working from the home office as possible so he could help Makoto while she was on maternity leave, and once she went back to work, their friends were already offering to help. Ann in particular was excited for babysitting duty. Shiho was also uncharacteristically excited for it, saying it would be good to have a trial run before deciding on whether to seek out a sperm donor. Apparently Ann had been pushing more and more for the two of them becoming parents lately, and Shiho was finally starting to open to the possibility as well.

For now though, they were enjoying a moment of calm. Just the four members of the Amamiya-Niijima family all together on Christmas Eve.

“Oh crap” Ren said.

“What?” Makoto looked at Ren worriedly, taken out of the picture perfect moment by his words.

“I forgot to get you a Christmas present.”

“Oh.” Makoto chuckled. “That’s fine. I forgot to get you one as well!”

“I think we’re starting to lose it in our old age.”

“We’re not old yet! We’re still in our twenties!”

“Well, maybe I’M not. You ARE a year older than me, after all, so that’d mean you’d be the first of us to turn ol- OW!” Ren pulled away as Makoto pinched his arm.

“Hush, you.” Makoto gave Ren a smug side-eye. “If they wake up, you’re the one who has to put them back to sleep.”

“Is that Makoto the mom telling me this, or Makoto the cop?”

“Still talking?” Makoto shook her head and clicked her tongue in disapproval. “Looks like I’ll just have to quiet you myself.”

Makoto grabbed Ren and held him tight, kissing him. Ren, for his part, did nothing to resist arrest. After a few moments, the kiss broke off and Ren looked at the cribs.

“You know what?” Ren wrapped his arm around Makoto’s waist. “I think we’re all good on presents this year.”

“Yes, me too.”

The two stood there a few minutes longer, watching their daughters sleep. Behind them was Yusuke’s completed mural, a little different from his original vision. The second-to-last image had Anat with a now-red light in her stomach, but it also had Satanael reaching up into the sun, his hand grasping a blue light. The final image showed the two them, holding one light form child each. A blue one in Anat’s arms, a red one in Satanael’s. Yusuke had given the full piece a single-word title. One that he himself admitted wasn’t particularly original, but applied all the same:

‘Bliss’.


	2. 5 Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Ryoko's fifth birthday and the family sits down to breakfast.

**Art by[Hureno](http://hurenoshmureno.tumblr.com)**

* * *

The first thing Ryoko experienced that day was some jostling, followed by the sound of a giggle fit. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes. Everything was blurry, but even if her eyes hadn’t fully woken up yet, there was no mistaking who all of that messy hair belonged to.

“Hanami…” Ryoko groaned. “Get off my bed. I’m trying to sleep.”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Hanami had climbed up onto Ryoko’s bed, standing over her sister, and started bouncing up and down.

“I said get off my bed!” Ryoko lazily threw her stuffed police bear Chief at Hanami, but missed and sent him flying into the door.

“C’MON!” Hanami stopped bouncing and crouched down, poking her older sister. “It’s your birthday, Ryoko! You’re not gonna stay in bed forever, are you!?”

“Ugh…” Ryoko sat up and rubbed her eyes. “What time is it?”

“Uh…” Hanami looked at the clock on the wall. Her dad had recently taught her to tell time, but she was still a little confused by it. “The li’l hand’s on 7, and the big hand’s on 11, so… 7:11?”

“That’s 7:55.”

“Oh yeah!” Hanami climbed down from the bed and pulled the covers off Ryoko. “Well it’s time to get up! I can smell Daddy makin’ your special birthday breakfast!”

That woke Ryoko up. She had been looking forward to this breakfast for a month. Her parents were finally going to let her try coffee. She’d been asking for a long time, because they had it every morning, but they always said coffee wasn’t for little kids. But now she was five years old, which made her a big kid.

Ryoko hopped out of bed and ran out the door, Hanami following her. The two scampered into the kitchen, where Ren was standing over the stove.

“GOOD MORNIN’, DADDY!” Hanami clung to her father’s leg.

“Good morning, Hanami.” Ren took the pan off the burner, bent down, and kissed Hanami on the forehead. He managed to pry her from his leg then reached out to Ryoko, picking her up. “And good morning to you, birthday girl!”

“Good morning, Dad.”

“So, five years old, huh?” Ren kissed Ryoko’s cheek and turned off the stove. “How do you feel? Older? Wiser?”

“Hungry.” Ryoko poked Ren’s forehead. “Is breakfast ready yet?”

“Just about!” Ren emptied the contents of the pan — a very large amount of scrambled eggs — onto a plate. He carried it over to the dining table with one hand while holding onto Ryoko with the other. He placed it in the middle of the table, where a small plate full of bacon and a stack of about a dozen pancakes were already waiting among five place settings. “What do you think?”

“OOH! PANCAKES!” Hanami pulled out a chair and excitedly jumped into it, staring at the large fluffy stack with a ravenous look.

“Hmm…” As her father lowered her into a chair, Ryoko stared at the glass of milk at her seat contemptuously. She looked back up at Ren displeased. “Something’s missing.”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget the promise.” Ren ruffled Ryoko’s hair. “You’ll get to try coffee today. I’m just keeping the pot warm until your mom gets home.”

“Where is Mom?” Ryoko looked at the three empty chairs at the table. “Is she getting somebody? There’s an extra plate.”

“They make detectives younger and younger these days, huh?” Ren walked back to the kitchen and started pulling out a few mugs. “Yeah, we’ve got someone coming over for breakfast. Mom should be back with her any-“

The front door opened while Ren was still speaking. Makoto stepped through.

“Good morning girls!” Makoto held the door open. “Look who’s here!”

“Hello, girls.” Sae walked through the door, holding a present.

“AUNT SAE!” Ryoko and Hanami hopped out of their chairs and ran over to their aunt excitedly.

“It’s good to see the both of you too.” Sae crouched down and hugged both of the girls at once.

“What are you doing here!?” Ryoko asked. “I thought you were giving a bunch of lectures in Kyoto!”

“I don’t have any lectures today, so I decided to come back here to celebrate.” Sae let go of the girls and held the present out to Ryoko. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thank you!” Ryoko took the present and looked up at Makoto excitedly. “Mom, can I open it now!?”

“Before your party?” Makoto crouched down and looked Ryoko in the eyes. “Don’t you want to open it with all the other presents you’ll be getting later?”

“But it’s from Aunt Sae!” Ryoko pointed at Sae. “That means it’s something really, really good! Can I please open it now!?”

“She’s right, you know.” Sae smirked at Makoto. “It is really, really good.”

“Well, I suppose it’s fine if you open one present early.” Makoto gave Ryoko a thumbs up. “Go ahead.”

Ryoko started fumbling with the wrapping paper excitedly, picking away at the tape holding it together. It took her a minute to open the present, Hanami bouncing behind her looking over her shoulder the whole time, but eventually Ryoko neatly removed the gift wrap without tearing it, revealing a flat, plain-white box. Ryoko opened the box and found a hand-written card on top of some tissue paper. She held it to her face closely.

“‘Happy Birthday Ryoko…’” Ryoko had only been reading for a couple weeks now, so she was still a little slow at it. It didn’t help that everything she’d read was all typed, so seeing Sae’s handwriting was different for her. “I know how much you like your mother’s style, so I think it’s about time you got one of these. Love, Aunt Sae.”

Ryoko removed the tissue paper and found a small braided headband just like her mother’s, although it matched the shade of her own reddish-brown hair. She squealed in joy and put it on.

“You were right, Sis” Makoto whispered to Sae. “That IS a really, really good gift.”

“Haha!” Hanami clapped her hands together. “You’re like Mommy, but really short!”

“Mirror!” Ryoko started looking around the room frantically, trying to spot any reflective surface. “I gotta see how it looks!”

“Here.” Sae pulled out her phone and pointed it towards Ryoko, the selfie cam capturing her image. “How’s this?”

“It’s perfect!” Ryoko stared at her image in amazement. The headband blended with her hair so perfectly, she had to feel its artificial material to believe that it wasn’t a natural part of her head. She looked up at Makoto. “Mom, we look alike now!”

“Do we really?” Makoto bent down and picked up Ryoko, turning to Sae. “I think we should get a picture together, just to make sure.”

“Alright, you two…” Sae pointed her camera at the pair. “Say ch-“

“FIST OF JUSTICE!” Ryoko shouted as she threw her fist into the air. Makoto giggled and balled her free hand into a fist, throwing it into the air as well. Sae rolled her eyes and took the picture.

“How do we look?” Makoto asked.

“You’re definitely mother and daughter.” A weary smile came to Sae’s face as she showed them the photo.

“This is the best present ever!” Ryoko ran her fingers over the headband again. “Thanks, Aunt Sae!”

“Alright ladies, you can continue this discussion at the table!” Ren was sitting down to eat already. “Breakfast is going to get cold if you don’t eat it soon!”

“Of course, Ren-Kun.” Sae nodded and headed to the table. “Our apologies.”

Ordinarily, the family sat in a pattern around the table, Ren and Makoto across from each other, and Ryoko and Hanami across from each other, each child seated between both parents and vice-versa. Sae broke the usual formation by sitting between Makoto and Ryoko. Ren reached over to Ryoko with a small mug in his hand.

“Here you go, honey.” Ren placed the mug in front of Ryoko. “Your first cup of coffee.”

“Thanks, Dad!” Ryoko blew into the mug to cool it off, and casually looked over at Makoto’s mug, noticing her mother’s coffee was a much darker shade of brown than her own. This confused her, so she looked over to Sae’s mug and saw the same thing. Ryoko looked back up at her father and raised her eyebrow. “Dad, can I see your coffee?”

“Why?” Ren asked.

“I wanna confirm a suspicion.”

“Okay.” Ren snickered and got up, walking his mug over to Ryoko. He put it down in front of her. “Is there a mystery I should know about?”

“Yeah!” Ryoko looked up at Ren, puffing her cheeks angrily. “Why’s mine look different from everyone else’s!?”

“What do you mean?” Ren looked around the table. “It all looks like coffee to me.”

“Everyone else’s is a different color!” Ryoko pouted. “Is this fake coffee!?”

“Is that all?” Ren chuckled and walked back to his seat. “Yours is coffee too. I just added milk and sugar to it.”

“You did?” Ryoko’s displeasure was replaced by confusion. “Why doesn’t everyone else have milk and sugar?”

“Coffee has a very strong flavor, Ryoko” Makoto said. “Sometimes people like to add milk, cream, sugar, or other flavors into it to make it easier to drink.”

“But none of you do?”

“We like our coffee just the way it is without anything added” Ren said. “That’s called ‘drinking it black’. It’s what most adults like.”

“Well if that’s how adults drink it, then I want it too!”

“Now Ryoko, your father made that cup of coffee specially for you.” Makoto pushed Ryoko’s mug closer to her. “How about you try that one first, and if it’s not strong enough, I let you have a sip of mine?”

“Deal!” Ryoko raised her mug and took a tiny sip of her coffee. Even with a lot of milk and sugar added, the bitter flavor was unlike anything she’d ever had before, and she winced a little.

“You ok there, Ryoko?” Ren managed to suppress the laugh he felt coming on, but couldn’t completely stop himself from smiling.

“I’m fine!” Ryoko turned to Makoto. “Now I get to try some of yours, right Mom!?”

“Are you sure about that?” Makoto looked down at Ryoko worriedly. “The flavor is much stronger and-“

“You promised!” Ryoko pointed at Makoto angrily.

“She’s not wrong” Sae said.

“Yeah, Mommy!” Hanami looked across the table excitedly. “Let Ryoko try your coffee! I wanna see the funny face she makes!”

“I’m not gonna make a funny face!” Ryoko grabbed Makoto’s mug as it was slid over to her. “I’m a big girl now! That means I can drink coffee like a grown-up!”

Ryoko took a large gulp of Makoto’s coffee. The bitterness instantly overwhelmed her. Ryoko’s eyes started to water and her face scrunched up, trying to stop herself from spitting out the potent brew all over the table.

“Are you ok there, Ryoko?” Ren gave his oldest daughter a bewildered look.

Ryoko held up one finger. After a few seconds, she forced herself to actually swallow the mouthful of coffee. She immediately started gasping for air and grabbed the mug Ren had prepared for her, suddenly finding the taste much more palatable.

“I’m fine” Ryoko muttered. Hanami started laughing.

“I told you!” Hanami pointed at her sister. “You made a funny face!”

“Shut up!” Ryoko shouted. “No I didn’t!”

“Yuh-huh! You were all ‘ACK’!”

Hanami sucked her lips inward and bulged out her eyes. As she did this, she threw her hands up in the air, including the hand holding a fork that had previously speared an entire pancake. The pancake flew off the fork and into the air before coming back down on Hanami’s head, syrup dripping down through her messy hair onto her face.

“Oops.” Hanami licked her cheek as she felt a bit of syrup trickle down onto it.

“Oh dear.” Makoto got up and removed the pancake from Hanami’s head, dropping it back down onto her plate. She picked Hanami up out of her chair. “Come on, Hanami, let’s get you cleaned up.”

“‘Kay!” Hanami shouted into her mother’s ear. Makoto cringed.

“I’ll take care of this.” Ren got up and grabbed Hanami’s plate, taking it into the kitchen.

It was just Sae and Ryoko at the table now. Sae looked over to Ryoko, who was sulking.

“What’s wrong?” Sae asked.

“Little sisters are dumb.”

“You shouldn’t say things like that about your sister.” Sae patted Ryoko’s back. “But I do understand how you feel.”

“You do?” Ryoko looked up at Sae curiously. “Aunt Sae, do you have a little sister?”

“Of course.” Sae chuckled. “Your mother is my little sister.”

“What!?”

Ryoko started running that data through her head. There was no way her mom and Hanami were the same. Makoto was the coolest mom ever. Hanami was the dumbest sister ever. Makoto was super pretty. Hanami was pretty dumb. Makoto was really smart. Hanami was smart at being dumb. Makoto was a super awesome crime fighter. Hanami was annoying and had dumb hair. Ryoko looked up at Sae and glared.

“Aunt Sae, I think you’re full of baloney.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah I wrote this story because I'd been talking with Hureno about my ideas for Ren and Makoto's kids for a while, then she wound up drawing the girls out of the blue and sent it to me. I knew I wanted to tell a story with them immediately, but I also wanted to tell the story of the pregnancy and adoption. Then when it came time to explore who they were as people, I didn't really have any direction with what I wanted to do aside from a goofy little comic Hureno drew (the exchange with Sae at the end is taken directly from a little series of sketches she sent me). I went to write more about the day and party but realized I just didn't have anything I wanted to do with it and was spinning my rims, so I decided to cut it off at the point I'd written this chapter to lead up to anyway.
> 
> There will be one more chapter that focuses on Hanami.


	3. 10 More Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanami's dedication to her art gets her mother angry at her.

**Art by[Hureno](http://hurenoshmureno.tumblr.com)**

* * *

Hanami sat on the floor of one of the many studio spaces of Kosei High, rolling a ball of clay in her hands. A large block of marble sat in the center of the room, sculpting tools and a sketchbook sitting in front of it. Hanami idly chewed on a pencil while staring at the marble, tilting her head to the side in search of some elusive attribute hidden within the material. Yusuke had told her long ago that some sculptors claimed that their greatest works were already in the marble, and they had just liberated it. If that was the case, Hanami was having a hell of a time finding the work within the big hunk of rock in front of her.

Hanami’s eyes slowly narrowed, eventually shutting completely. Her hands pressed into the clay she was holding, squeezing it through the narrow gaps between her fingers, and she tried to reach out with her very soul to whatever muse would call out to her. After a moment, she heard a voice.

“Hanami…”

Hanami held her breath, as if abandoning the most base action of the living would allow her to better hear the otherworldly.

“Hanami!”

“Yes?” As Hanami spoke, the pencil fell out of her mouth and onto the floor. She threw her arms out to the side, pulling the clay she held apart into two pieces. “What is your true form, o’ mighty marble!?”

“EARTH TO HANAMI!”

Hanami jolted up and her eyes shot open as a very loud voice blasted her left ear at point blank range. As her rear came crashing back down to the floor, she looked towards the source of the noise and found herself eye level with some stocking-covered legs and a plaid skirt.

“Oh, hey, Ryoko.” Hanami tilted her head upwards to her sister’s scowling face. “I should’ve known it was you. I thought the aura in this room felt a lot heavier all of a sudden.”

“Are you still jabbering on about all of that metaphysical nonsense?” Ryoko put her hands on her hips.

“After all the stories Mom and Dad have told us, anything’s possible.”

“Not this again.” Ryoko shook her head. “Just because Morgana used to be a cat doesn’t mean that every bit of new age hocus-pocus you hear is true.”

“But it also means it’s possible that it isn’t NOT true!”

“That’s not how evidence works, Hanami.”

“Well, let’s just agree to disagree, then.” Hanami shrugged and pressed the two balls of clay in her hands together, turning them into one ball again. “What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be lecturing kids at your own school?”

Ryoko knew this question was not asked in malice. If there was one thing she knew from growing up with Hanami, it’s that her sister didn’t have a mean bone in her freakishly-tall body. The serenity Hanami asked that with was sincere, and Ryoko could tell that she was truly curious as to why Ryoko wasn’t off lecturing her own classmates, as if that was her natural state of being. This only served to make Ryoko even angrier.

“You weren’t answering your messages, so Mom asked me to pick you up on the way home from Shujin so you wouldn’t miss dinner again!”

“Messages?” Hanami looked at Ryoko inquisitively.

“Yes, messages! You know, on your phone!? That thing Mom and Dad tell you to keep on at all times!?”

“Ah, yes.” Hanami pulled out her phone and looked at the screen. There were a couple missed calls and a history of increasingly-angry messages from Makoto. “Oops.”

“‘Oops’?” Ryoko let out a low growl and grabbed Hanami’s arm, trying to pull her up to her feet. “Don’t give me ‘oops’! Let’s just go home already before Mom gets even more pissed off!”

“Alright then.” Hanami calmly rose to her feet, quickly rising above her sister. She slipped out of Ryoko’s grip and turned to the table, placing the clay in a clear plastic bag and sealing it closed. “Perhaps a change of locale is required for artistic inspiration. Maybe the motion of the trains will cause my own train of thought to gain steam.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Uncle Yusuke.” Ryoko rolled her eyes and grabbed Hanami’s arm again, dragging her out the room. Hanami barely had time to grab her bag as this happened. “Let’s go already!”

* * *

“This is the fifth time! When are you going to get this through your head!?”

Makoto stood over Hanami, her eyes bearing down on the girl with all the rage they could contain. Hanami said nothing, feeling smaller under her mother’s gaze. Ryoko, for her part, couldn’t help but feel bad for her younger sister. Hanami regularly infuriated her to no end, but it was never easy being on the receiving end of their mother’s wrath. Ren stood in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner, his heart heavy as he overheard the lecture going on in the other room.

“It wasn’t an act of defiance” Hanami managed to squeak out. “I was just trying to maintain a creative state of mind without distractio-“

“I don’t want to hear it!” Makoto’s glare somehow intensified. “I know your art matters to you, but there’s nothing more important to me than making sure you’re safe! If you’re not in class, your phone NEEDS to be on! Because there are things in life more important than your art, and if a family matter tears you out of your creative mood, that’s just something you’ll have to live with!”

“I’m sorry.”

“‘Sorry’ isn’t good enough, Hanami!” Makoto’s expression finally let up a little, but not by much. “You’re almost 15. You should know better by now. If this happens one more time, we’re going to have to take serious disciplinary action.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know yet.” Makoto groaned, pinching her forehead. “The first thing that comes to mind is pulling you out of Kosei’s arts program and transferring you to Shujin, but-“

“You can’t do that!”

“Hanami, please, I-“

“Alright, I think she gets the point.” Ren finished setting the table. “Let’s all calm down. We don’t get to enjoy dinner as a family as much as we used to.”

“Yes, of course.” Makoto took a deep breath and sat down. “That’s why it was so important to me that you came home on time. Your father and I both managed to slip away from the office tonight, so let’s just forget all of this unpleasantness.”

Hanami and Ryoko uneasily sat down at the table and looked at their plates. The burgers in front of them could hardly be considered the epitome of Japanese cooking, but everyone was just glad that their father had made something other than curry for once. An awkward silence hung in the air as the family began to eat. Although it wasn’t exactly her forte, Ryoko decided to try and lighten the mood. She took a bite into her burger.

“Mmmm…” Ryoko swallowed the bite and smirked at her father. “This is a good burger, Dad. Restaurant quality, even. Are you sure you made it yourself?”

“Are you ever going to let that go?” Ren rolled his eyes. “It’s been seven years.”

“You tried to deceive your family.” Makoto gave Ren a smirk to match Ryoko’s. “That sort of thing can never be forgiven, dear.”

“I was tired!” Ren protested. “I’d had a really long day battling over education spending with that blowhard Hashimoto and Big Bang Burger was on the way home!”

“Mom’s always tired when it’s her turn to cook,” Ryoko said, “but she’s never tried to pass off fast food as her own cooking.”

“As far as you know.” Ren pointed at Makoto with a sly smile on his face. “Maybe she’s just better at hiding it. She’s been a cop for a long time now. Put away enough criminals and you start to learn their ways. Who knows where she’s buried the wrappers?”

“Continue down this road and people will be asking the same question about your body” Makoto said.

Ren, Ryoko, and Makoto all started laughing. Hanami was quiet, staring at her burger, still untouched. Ren was the first one to take notice.

“You haven’t touched your burger, Hanami.” Ren frowned. “Did I mix up your veggie patty with a hamburger again?”

“Oh, no.” Hanami took a very tiny bite of her burger. She chewed it slowly, finally swallowing it after it must have been thoroughly pulped. Afterwards, she rose from the table. “I’m not very hungry. I think I’m going to go do my homework.”

Makoto tried to protest, but her mouth was full. Hanami walked out of the room before her mother could get the chance to speak. Makoto stood up to follow her, but Ren rose from the table at the same time, holding out his hand.

“Give me a few minutes with her first.”

Makoto nodded. Ren walked down the hall to Hanami’s room and knocked on the door.

“Bunny? Are you in there?”

“Mmhm.”

“Can I come in?”

There was a pause for a moment. Then Ren heard footsteps approaching the door, followed by the sound of the lock being undone. The footsteps moved away from the door.

“Mmhm.”

Ren opened the door. Hanami sat on the bed, her back to him, looking at the framed recreation of Yusuke’s mural from the nursery in their old home hanging on the wall. Ren sat down on the bed next to her, staring at the painting.

“So, not hungry, huh?”

“There was a lot of negative energy in the room” Hanami said. “It makes all food taste bad.”

“I know what you mean.”

Ren didn’t know what Hanami meant. Usually tense situations just made him want food more. Despite Makoto’s best efforts, he had gotten a little rounder over the past few years.

“Dad?” Hanami looked up at Ren, her eyes full of sadness and fear.

“What’s up?”

“You guys aren’t really gonna pull me out of Kosei, are you?”

“No! I mean…” Ren sighed. “Look, your mom and I have talked about it once or twice, but we haven’t made any decisions yet. And if we did, it’s not like we’d be doing it to punish you or anything.”

“But Mom called it ‘disciplinary action’.”

“Yeah, well…” Ren put his arm around Hanami. “Mom’s a cop. That’s just how she talks. You have to understand, Hanami, she’s not mad at you. She just worries. And I do too, you know.”

“But school’s totally safe!”

“Nowhere is TOTALLY safe.” Ren looked up at the ceiling. “I mean, Ryoko goes to Shujin, and we think it’s safe, but your mom and I went to Shujin too, and back then everyone thought it was safe, but-“

“There was the evil king teacher and the corrupt principal and the students were being preyed on by a criminal organization.” Hanami sulked. Usually she loved hearing her parents’ old Phantom Thief stories, but she just wasn’t in the mood for it.

“Yeah, I guess you’ve heard it all a few times.” Ren laughed and retracted his arm a bit, rubbing Hanami’s back. “The point is, we just want to know you’re safe. And if you aren’t going to respond when we check in with you, we need your sister to look out for you. And it’s not fair to her to have to keep going out of her way, even if you are working on your art, ok?”

“Ok” Hanami muttered.

“Let me know if you get hungry later. I’ll see about warming your dinner up for you.” Ren kissed Hanami on the forehead. “I love you, Bunny.”

“Mmhm.”

Ren kept a smile on as he rose from the bed, but once his back was turned to Hanami he let it fade. He stepped out of the room and found Makoto waiting on the other side of the door for him.

“How is she?” Makoto asked.

“I don’t really know if I made things better or not.”

“I see.” Makoto frowned for a second, then composed herself. “I suppose it’s my turn.”

“Makoto, I don’t know that-“

“I’ve calmed down now.” Makoto put her hand on Ren’s shoulder. “Everything will be fine. I’m not going to yell at her, I’m going to have an honest talk to try and make her see things from my side.”

“Alright.”

Makoto walked past Ren and into the room without knocking. She sat down on the bed next to Hanami. Hanami scooted a few inches away from her. Makoto waited to see if Hanami would say anything, but she didn’t, just staring down at the floor in silence.

“I’d like to tell you a story, Hanami.”

Hanami said nothing.

“A few years before you were born, when your father and I weren’t even married yet and I had only been a detective for a year, I got assigned to a missing persons case.”

Makoto looked over to Hanami. Her daughter was peeking at her through the corner of her eye.

“A teenage boy had disappeared. When I talked to his parents, they hadn’t seen him in three days. He was a member of his high school’s track team.”

“Like Uncle Ryuji used to be?” Hanami was now looking directly at her mother.

“Exactly.” Makoto was glad that Hanami was paying more attention to her, but did not smile. The subject was too serious for it. “He would often come home late because he’d been training. He’d leave home early every morning to get a run in before school, and sometimes even go out for a run at night if he couldn’t sleep. His parents didn’t mind for the most part, that was just the way things were. He was independent, they were busy with work, so long as he kept his grades up, they didn’t really care what he did.”

Hanami didn’t say anything, but her face told Makoto that such a situation was alien to her. For how busy they were, Ren and Makoto had always tried to remain active in their girls’ lives. They didn’t want to be the kind of parents whose children never saw them.

“They didn’t even realize he was missing the first day. They just thought it was business as usual. The second day they thought it was a little strange, but they weren’t too worried. It was on the third day that they filed the police report.”

“So what happened?” Hanami was leaning closer to Makoto now.

“We searched for the boy for five days. During that time, his mother was hysterical. I’ve dealt with a lot of people fearful for their loved ones in my line of work, but she stood out. She wanted to know what happened to her son, was worried that something terrible had occurred and it was all her fault because she wasn’t more attentive. She wanted him to return a call or a text, just to know he was ok, and she was constantly asking the school and his friends if he’d turned up, but he didn’t. I’ve never seen a person more panicked in my life.”

“Did you find him?”

“Yes.”

“Well that’s good!”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Huh?” Hanami’s eyes widened. “You mean-“

“His body was found in Inokashira Park.” Makoto’s voice got low. “He had tripped over near the lake and hit his head on the way in. He drowned, and his body was hidden under some pond scum, so nobody noticed it at first.”

“That’s terrible.”

“It was. And his mother…” Makoto’s voice wavered. “She was so devastated. I can’t even describe it, Hanami. I witnessed this woman’s grief and agony firsthand but I had no idea what it could feel like. The closest I ever came was the few hours when your father had faked his death, but this was on a whole new level. This was a woman’s son, the child she had raised, who she loved so much and dedicated her life to.”

“But I thought you said she was never around.”

“That’s true, but she worked so hard because she wanted what was best for her son. She wanted to be able to send him to any college he wanted so he could live the best life possible. And just like that, none of it mattered anymore. She still had her husband and career, but with the death of her son, none of it mattered anymore. Or so I imagine.”

“What do you mean, ‘imagine’?”

“I can’t say for sure what was going through that woman’s head when her son died, but I think I have an idea. Because I’m a mother now too, and I know what it means to care for somebody with every ounce of your being. Even if she wasn’t always there for him, I’m certain that woman felt the same way about her son that I do about you and your sister.”

Hanami said nothing. She mulled over Makoto’s words.

“I want you to understand, I don’t yell at you because I’m trying to be mean or punish you. And I don’t want to pull you out of Kosei. I know how important art is to you. Even if I did think you needed to be punished, something as drastic as that would be a last resort. But I need to know you’re safe. Ryoko too. That’s why I need you to respond to my messages. I know you feel that text messages interfere with your creative process, but I don’t ever want to feel the fear or grief that woman did. And even though I know nothing terrible happens at Kosei, when I don’t hear back from you in a long time, I start to think the worst things.”

“Mom, it’s not like I’m trying to make you worry.”

“I know, Hanami.” Makoto inched closer to her daughter. “And I know you don’t like the feeling of being chained to devices, but I don’t like the feeling that something might have happened to you. So even if you think I’m being selfish with this request, I want you to indulge me, alright?”  


“Alright.” Hanami hugged Makoto. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

“It’s ok.”

Makoto returned the hug. Both of them felt like a weight had been lifted off their chest. After a few seconds, Makoto broke off the hug and spoke again.

“So, what was so important that it required absolute concentration?”

“Huh?”

“You don’t usually totally isolate yourself when working on a new project. Is this one giving you trouble?”

“Yeah.” Hanami sighed, but her mood seemed to have improved considerably. She always perked up when talking about her art. “It’s like, I know what it’s supposed to be, but not the shape it’s gonna be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ok, so…” Hanami reached behind her and grabbed her bag. She took out the clay she’d been fiddling with earlier as well as another bag filled with paper cutouts of animal parts on toothpicks. “My sculpture idea is ‘the Zodiac Chimera’, an amalgamation of all twelve animals from the Chinese Zodiac.”

“What does that look like?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” Hanami rolled the clay into a long tube. “See, just from this body shape I can get the snake, and then I could carve stripes into it to get the tiger…” Hanami took out a pair of rabbit ears and stuck them on one end of the clay. “And then I could add distinct pieces to get rabbit, ox, etc. But there are only so many things an animal can have, and I’m not trying to make a deformed monster, I’m trying to make a natural-looking creature that’s equal parts of twelve animals.”

“That sounds challenging.”

“The worst part is the dragon.” Hanami’s brow furrowed. “It already has so many parts in common with other animals! It’s got a long body like the snake, a long face and mane like a horse, teeth like a dog’s, horns in the same place as goats and oxes-“

“Oxen.”

“The point is, I don’t want it to look like a weird dragon, I want it to be its own thing!”

The two sat there for the next hour trying to figure out the puzzle that was the original animal Hanami wanted to make. Eventually, her stomach started to growl, and they stopped their work so Hanami could finally have dinner. The next day, when Hanami got to work on her sculpture, she kept her phone on. Thankfully, no messages came to disturb the creative process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, finally wrapped this one up!
> 
> There will be more stories with the girls in the future. Can't say when but it'll happen.
> 
> Also I'm aware that I totally dropped a bombshell real casual-like regarding a major event that happens in this ficverse. And I do have a story planned to elaborate on that. And I have no idea when I'm gonna tell it because there are like five other stories I'd have to tell first in order to tell that one, so it could be a very long time.
> 
> I will not apologize.

**Author's Note:**

> If you don't mind, I'd like to take this space after the fic to plug something.
> 
> For most of 2017, when I wasn't working on fics or writing videos for Marvel's YouTube channel, I was working on a pilot for an original animated series, an all-ages fantasy/adventure/comedy called "Knights of All Realms" starring a band of goofy knights going on all kinds of adventures.
> 
> My friend and I produced a fully-voiced animatic, which we've been pitching to animation studios for a few months now, and we recently decided to make it available for public viewing. If you're interested to see what kind of thing I'd like to write outside of Persona fanfiction, I'd appreciate it if you could give it a watch. And if you like it, please share it with your friends! More exposure can only help us in the long run.
> 
> Here's the link: https://vimeo.com/236345931


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